Defense SecretaryPete Hegsethannounced two major changes to the military's chaplaincy corps on March 24, one of which will mean chaplains will no longer wear their rank insignia.
They will instead display their religious insignia while retaining their rank as officers. They "will be seen among the highest ranks because of their divine calling," Hegseth said ina video posted to X.
The change reflects Hegseth's wider effort to infuse the chaplaincy, and the military more broadly, with more explicitly religious sentiments.
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Service members' spiritual health should be seen as equally important as physical and mental health, Hegseth said, lamenting what he said was the chaplaincy's misguided shift away over the years from focusing on religious faith in favor of "self-help and self-care."
"A warfighter needs more than a coping mechanism," he said. "They need truth, big-T truth, they need conviction, they need a shepherd."
Hegseth also said the move would make chaplains more accessible by reducing "any unease or anxiety" service members may have about approaching a superior to discuss sensitive issues.
He also announced that the Pentagon would use 31 faith codes moving forward instead of the more than 200 previously recognized. He called that higher number an "impractical and unusable system."
A smaller, more streamlined system will support chaplains in "minister(ing) to service members in a way that aligns with that service member's faith background and religious practice," said Hegseth, adding that the Pentagon is "not even close to being done" in taking steps toward "restoring the esteemed position of chaplain."
"You have a sacred calling," Hegseth said in closing. "So preach the truth, be steadfast in your faith, and shepherd the flock entrusted to you."
A history of debates over religious diversity in the military
PresidentGeorge Washingtonestablished the Chaplain Corpsin 1775. Itwas exclusively Protestantat its founding, but introducedCatholic chaplains and a rabbiin the 19th century.
Thefirst Muslim chaplainwas picked in 1994, and thefirst Buddhist chaplainfollowed in 2008.
There have been controversies and debates over the extent to which the military should accommodate religious expression. TheU.S. Supreme Court in 1986ruled that the Air Force could prohibit an Orthodox Jewish service member from wearing a yarmulke while in uniform.
Though it restrained his religious expression, the court said the ban "reasonably and evenhandedly" supported the military's "perceived need for uniformity."
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In the early 2000s, there wereallegations that Air Force Academy officersand cadets were proselytizing in support of evangelical Christian beliefs, fostering a less welcoming environment for service members of other faith traditions.
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Army Chaplain Corps guidelinespublished during theBidenadministration in February 2024, whichremained on the Army's websitefollowing the March 24 announcement, said the Chaplain Corps at that point represented more than 100 religious groups.
The Chaplain Corps "cares for all Soldiers and their Families, regardless of their religious preferences, and even when they have no religious preference at all," it said. It added that recruiters were "actively working to increase the Corps' diversity" at that point, particularly relating to women serving as chaplains and more representation of minority faiths in the chaplaincy.
Formermilitary chaplains previously expressed concernover the Pentagon's more explicitly religious vision under the Trump administration in interviews with USA TODAY. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation reported earlier in March that it had received more than 200 complaints related to religious freedom from service members in the wake of theUnited States' war in Iran.
Impact depends on the details
Rabbi Joel Schwartzman,who served for more than 20 years as an Air Force chaplain and retired as a full colonel, views the changes "as part of a greater whole of what he's (Hegseth) trying to do to religion in the military."
"I see this as part of a greater whole of what he's (Hegseth) trying to do to religion in the military," Schwartzman added. "I don't trust it, and I certainly don't like it."
Though he said removing rank insignia could make chaplains more approachable, he hopes the change could isolate them from other service members. But he expressed greater concern about the reduction in faith codes.
"I think you start tampering with the chaplaincy, you're destroying years of tradition," he said.
He questioned whether the change would reduce the number of military chaplains. The Pentagon did not respond to USA TODAY's inquiry on the issue, nor to questions about which faith codes it would use moving forward, or the extent to which service members outside of those traditions would receive faith resources.
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The impact of Hegseth's changes to the chaplaincy depends on such details, according to Ronit Stahl, a University of California, Berkeley professor and author of the book "Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America."
She said the list of 200-plus faith codes used includes some "hyper-specific Protestant denominations," adding that some consolidation is therefore, in her view, "not inherently significant."
More than the changes themselves, Stahl said Hegseth's tone and language, such as his reference to "big-T truth," reflect a belief in a singular truth followinghis own conservative Protestant tradition.
"Ideology can be smuggled into an institution through administrative bureaucracy," she said.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her atbjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.Funders do not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Military chaplains will no longer display rank: Pete Hegseth